Rubbing It In

Florida State The game Saturday's notebook

September 10, 1989|By Tim Povtak of The Sentinel Staff

THE CITY of Tallahassee was filled Saturday with reminders of the now famous ''Puntrooskie,'' the fake-punt play that propelled FSU to a last-minute victory over Clemson last season. There were T-shirts for sale, billboards and hundreds of car windows painted with the word.

A COUPLE OF WINNERS

THE CLEMSON-Florida State matchup pitted a pair of nationally prominent coaches. Clemson Coach Danny Ford, in his 11th season with a 87-27-4 record, is the fourth winningest coach in America (.754). FSU Coach Bobby Bowden, in his 14th season with a 187-71-3 record, is the ninth winningest active coach (.737).

DRESS REHEARSAL

CLEMSON HAD not played in Tallahassee for 13 years, so the coaching staff wanted the team to know exactly what to expect. At practice one day last week, a Clemson graduate assistant road a horse through a line of scout team players and spiked a mock spear into the ground, simulating the Seminoles' pregame ritual. He did it while the FSU fight song was blaring over the loudspeakers.

SEPARATE WAYS

FIVE FLORIDA State players greeted former high school teammates before the game. FSU's Kevin Grant and Clemson's Scott Beville attended Forest High School in Ocala; Mike Brown of Clemson and Philip Ferrell of FSU played together at Pell City (Ala) High; Seminoles tight end Dave Roberts greeted both safety Wayne Harps and tackle Stacy Long from Griffin (Ga.) High; FSU tailback Chris Parker and Clemson tailback Reggie Lawrence competed for the same job at Jacksonville Sandalwood; and FSU tackle Carl Simpson and Clemson freshman Stacy Lewis played at Appling High in Baxley, Ga.

LET THE SUN SHINE

EVEN THOUGH Clemson had a 9-11 record in games played in the state of Florida, Coach Danny Ford came in with a 5-0 record. All five victories came in bowl games. Under Ford, Clemson beat Ohio State in the Gator Bowl (1978), beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl (1982), beat Stanford in the Gator Bowl (1986), beat Penn State and Oklahoma in the Citrus Bowl (1988, 1989).